Magnetic target and disc surface projectile game apparatus

ABSTRACT

An amusement apparatus which comprises a base member and magnetic elements operationally arranged on a surface of the base member in an attracting relationship. One magnetic element provides a target for the other which is projected at the target in a fashion intended to cause the projected element or puck to travel about the target.

Unite States atem 11 1 [111 3,870,308

Reilly 1 Mar. 11, 1975 [5 MAGNETIC TARGET AND DISC SURFACE 2,720,39810/1955 Andrews et al. 273/126 R T LE GAME APPARATUS 2,903,264 9/1959Munro ct 211. 46/241 X PROJEC I 3,091,464 5/1963 Birdsall et 21] 273/118A X [76] Inventor: Jerry Reilly, Blandford r, 3,637,214 1/1972 Brcslow273/126 R Sudbury, Mass. 01776 [22] Filed. Dec. 26 1972 PrimaryExaminer-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-T. Brown [21] Appl. No.:318,496

[57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl. 273/126 A, 273/119 A An amusement apparatuswhich comprises a base [51] Int. Cl. A63f 3/00 member and magneticelements operationally ar- [58] Field of Search..... 273/119 A, 120 A,126 RA, ranged on a surface of the base member in an attract- 273/127 R,127 B, l M, 1 18 A; 46/241 ing relationship. One magnetic elementprovides a target for the other which is projected at the target in a[56] References Cited fashion intended to cause the projected element orUNITED STATES PATENTS puck to travel about the target.

2,482,404 9/1949 Domingo 273/126 R 8 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure MAGNETICTARGET AND DISC SURFACE PROJECTILE GAME APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to amusementapparatus. More precisely, the invention disclosed herein relates toapparatus which comprises magnetic members and utilizes principles ofthe magnetic attractive field existing between the members to provideamusement.

2. Description of the Prior Art Games and devices utilizing magneticelements and magnetic principles to provide amusement are known in theart. Representative games and devices of this type are described indetail in U.S. Pat. No. 2,987,852 to Koch; U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,110 toKoch; U.S. Pat. No. 3,090,662 to Sire and U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,171 toLuchsinger. A principal object of the present invention is to provide agame or device utilizing magnets and magnetic principles to provideamusement according to a distinctive mode of operation. Other objectsand advantages of the present invention will in part be set forthhereinafter or will be apparent to those conversant and skilled in theart to which the present invention pertains.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The amusement apparatus of the presentinvention comprises a base member providing a flat surface and twomagnetic elements operationally arranged in an attracting relationshipon the surface. One magnet element provides a target or a plurality oftargets. Preferably the target magnet element is a single target magnetmember maintained in a fixed position on the surface. The second magnetelement serves as a puck or projectile and is shot along the surface atthe target magnet element. As skill is acquired in shooting the puck orprojectile magnet element at the target magnet element to thereby bringthe magnetic elements into proper contact, the projectile magnet elementcan be caused to travel about the peripheral edge of the target magnetelement one or more times. A score can be obtained each time theprojectile magnet element or puck travels about the target magnetelement and the game is won by the person who can cause the projectileelement to travel about the target element the greatest number of times.The invention will be more fully understood and appreciated by referenceto the attached FIGURE taken in connection with the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE The FIGURE is a perspective view of anarrangement of elements suitable for providing an amusement apparatus ofthe present invention. An alternative embodiment is depicted in dottedlines in the center of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTIONReferring now to the FIGURE, the entire amusement apparatus is generallydesignated as 10. The amusement apparatus comprises as essentialelements thereof, a base member 11 providing a flat surface 12 and twomagnetic elements: target magnetic element 22 and projectile magnetelement or puck 42. Base member 11 is preferably rectangular in shapeand is face 12 and any object projected therealong can be reduced orminimized so that puck 42 can slide easily thereon. In an alternativeembodiment the center of the base member 12 is removed to provide anadditional element of chance in the game. The removal causes the puck 42to travel over the gap to hit the target 22. With dexterity, the puck 42will clear the gap and land ona position on the target 22 to spin aroundand around. In another alternative, not shown, an arcuate portion of thebase member 12 can be removed, one end of the arcuate portion being atthe corner nearest to the propulsion means 24 and the other end beingsomewhere near the edge of the target 22, thereby leaving a ribconnecting the portion of the base supporting the projection means 24with the portion of the base supporting the target 22 and forming abow-shaped board.

Target magnet element 22 is preferably circular in shape and techniquescan also be employed to reduce the friction between the peripheral edgesthereof and any object that may travel about said peripheral edges.Exemplary of such techniques is the coating of the element 22 with anencapsulating layer of plastic or the like which can serve the dualpurpose of reducing friction and preventing chipping. The coating can bematerials such as polyvinylchloride, Nylon or Teflon. As shown, targetmagnet element 22 is a single magnet and is preferably maintained in afixed position on surface 12 but it should be understood that means (notshown) for positioning or maintaining the single target magnet member 22in various different fixed positions along surface 12 can be employed.It should also be understood that although target magnet element 22 ispreferably a single magnet, more than one magnet can be employed. Forexample, target magnet element 22 can be a plurality of magnets arrangedin various positions on surface 12. Accordingly, in its broadest sense,the term target magnet element means at least one magnet but the termcan embrace a plurality of such magnets each functioning as separatetargets.

The relative diameter of target magnet element 22 with respect toprojectile magnet element or puch 42 is not an especially criticalfeature of the invention except that the element 42 must be selfsupporting when it magnetically attaches to the target 42. However inthe preferred embodiment as shown in the FIGURE, target element 22should be somewhat larger in diam eter than the diameter of projectilemagnet element 42 and preferably the diameter of target member 22 shouldbe at least about twice the diameter of projectile magnet element 42.Also target magnet element 22 should at least be somewhat thicker thanprojectile magnet element 42. This feature aids in establishing propercontact between the magnetic elements at impact thereof and improves theefficiency of the travel of the projectile magnet element 22 about theperipheral edges of target magnet element 22 by reducing friction.Accordingly, target magnet element 22 is pref A critical feature of thepresent invention, however, is that target magnet element 22 andprojectile magnet element 42 are arranged in an attracting relationshipduring operation. By attracting relationship it is meant that thepolarity of target magnet element 22 is opposite to the polarity ofprojectile magnet element 42. In other words, if the south pole oftarget magnet element 22 communicates with surface 12, than the northpole of projectile magnet element 42 is arranged during operation tocommunicate with surface 12 or vise versa as projectile magnet element42 is shot at target magnet element 22.

According to this mode of operation, there is a special attractionbetween target magnet element 22 and projectile magnet element 42. Thetop peripheral edge I of target element 22 is attracted to the topperipheral edge of projectile member 42 while the bottoms of theperipheral edges of each element are also attracted to each other. Undersuch conditions, if projectile magnet element 42 is brought into propercontact with target magnet element 22, projectile magnet element 42 canbe caused to lift from the surface 12 and then travel about theperipheral edges of target element 22. As skill is acquired in bringingthe projectile magnet element 42 into a proper tangential alignment withtarget magnet element 22 together with sufficient momentum, theprojectile magnet member 42 can be caused to travel about the peripheryof target magnet member 22 several times. A score is obtained each timeprojectile element 42 travels about target element 22 and accordingly,the winner is determined by the ability to cause element 42 to travelabout element 22 the greater number of times.

Proper contact between projectile magnet element 42 and target magnetelement 22 will depend somewhat on such features as the shape ofprojectile magnet element 42 and the force of momentum available fromthe means employed to impel projectile magnet element 42 toward targetelement 22. However in the embodiment shown in the FIGURE, propercontact between projectile magnet element 42 and target magnet element22 is best achieved by propelling projectile element 42 tangentiallyalong surface 12 in the direction shown by the white arrows toward aside of target magnet element 22 e.g., point A thereof, to causeprojectile element 42 to graze target member 22 at or near point A. Inother words, proper contact is achieved by trying to obtain a tangentialnear miss between projectile element 42 and portions of target element22. As mentioned, proper tangential contact in combination withsufficient momentum can cause projectile magnet element 42 to travelepicyclically as shown by the black arrow one or more times about theperiphery of target magnet member 22 while projectile element 42 is incontact with target member 22.

A means to propel projectile magnet member 42 towards target magnetmember 22 is preferably pivotally disposed on the front end of basemember 12. Such propulsion means is generally designated as 24 in theFIGURE. Essentially the propulsion means can comprise a head 30preferably shaped as shown to accommodate projectile magnet element 42.Head 30 can be operatively associated in known manner with shaft 26,compressable spring 28 and pivot means which comprises pivot bearing 32,pivot-pin 34 and pivot bracket 36. Knob 38 is also attached to shaft 26and a washer 40 preferably of resilient material is positioned be- .4tween knob 38 and pivot bearing 32. Accordingly, propulsion means 24permits selective aiming of projectile magnet element 42 at particularportions of the peripheral edge of target magnet member 22 and canpropel element 42 toward the portion selected. It should be understoodthat the present invention is not limited to the particular propulsionmeans shown and other such means can be employed including for example.a cue stick or even a straight rule edge in combination with snapping ofthe middle finger.

Other elements included in the amusement apparatus of the presentinvention include vertical side walls 14 and 16 and vertical side walls14 and 16 and vertical rear wall 18 which are designed to retainprojectile magnet element 42 within the confines of surface 12 ifprojectile element 42 should miss target element 22. All of theseelements are made of a ferrous metal so that the projectile element 22will be attracted to them. In the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, an inclined rear end portion 18 is provided to deaccelerateany projectile member 42 that misses target member 22 and thereby aid inretaining the projectile member 42 on surface 12. By inclining the endportion, the flat surface of the projectile element 42 is attracted toit thereby rapidly slowing it down and preventing leakage or chipping,when the projectile misses the target.

Many modifications of the details offered above for the purpose ofillustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention defined in theappended claims.

Having described my invention as well as preferred embodiments thereofand manners of practicing same, what I declare as new and desire tosecure by US. Letters Patents is as follows:

1. An amusement apparatus which comprises a base member providing asubstantially smooth playing surface having front and rear ends, atleast one nonrotating stationary cylindrical target magnet elementpositioned at one end of said playing surface, a cylindrical projectilemagnet element which can be projected along said playing surface towardsaid target magnet element, said elements arranged on said playingsurface so that the polarity of the surface of the target magnet elementand the polarity of the surface of the projectile magent element whichcommunicates with said playing surface are opposite each other so thatthe target magnet element and the projectile magnet element are inattracting relationship and proper contact between said elements cancause said projectile magnet element to spin about the periphery of saidtarget magnet element, and means to propel said projectile magnetelement toward said target magnet element.

2. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 wherein said target magnet elementcomprises more than one magnet.

3. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 wherein said target magnet elementis a single magnet.

4. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 wherein said target magnet memberis a single magnet.

5. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means to propel saidprojectile magnet member at said target member comprises a pivotallymounted compressable spring.

6. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 further including vertical sidewalls and a vertical rear wall de' signed to retain any projectedprojectile magnet element within a substantial portion of the confinesof said surface.

7. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 further including an inclinedferrous rear end portion designed to deaccelerate any projectedprojectile member that 5 meansmay miss said target magnet element.

1. An amusement apparatus which comprises a base member providing a substantially smooth playing surface having front and rear ends, at least one non-rotating stationary cylindrical target magnet element positioned at one end of said playing surface, a cylindrical projectile magnet element which can be projected along said playing surface toward said target magnet element, said elements arranged on said playing surface so that the polarity of the surface of the target magnet element and the polarity of the surface of the projectile magent element which communicates with said playing surface are opposite each other so that the target magnet element and the projectile magnet element are in attracting relationship and proper contact between said elements can cause said projectile magnet element to spin about the periphery of said target magnet element, and means to propel said projectile magnet element toward said target magnet element.
 1. An amusement apparatus which comprises a base member providing a substantially smooth playing surface having front and rear ends, at least one non-rotating stationary cylindrical target magnet element positioned at one end of said playing surface, a cylindrical projectile magnet element which can be projected along said playing surface toward said target magnet element, said elements arranged on said playing surface so that the polarity of the surface of the target magnet element and the polarity of the surface of the projectile magent element which communicates with said playing surface are opposite each other so that the target magnet element and the projectile magnet element are in attracting relationship and proper contact between said elements can cause said projectile magnet element to spin about the periphery of said target magnet element, and means to propel said projectile magnet element toward said target magnet element.
 2. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 wherein said target magnet element comprises more than one magnet.
 3. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 wherein said target magnet element is a single magnet.
 4. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 wherein said target magnet member is a single magnet.
 5. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means to propel said projectile magnet member at said target member comprises a pivotally mounted compressable spring.
 6. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 further including vertical side walls and a vertical rear wall designed to retain any projected projectile magnet element within a substantial portion of the confines of said surface.
 7. An amusement apparatus of claim 1 further including an inclined ferrous rear end portion designed to deaccelerate any projected projectile member that may miss said target magnet element. 